Elmet is a specialist wholesaler of electrical components to sectors including offshoremarine, petrochemicals and infrastructure. The loan supports a consolidation of theshareholder structure and future growth of the business.

The loan was made through BNPP AM’s SME Alternative Financing platform, which worksclosely with origination partners such as Caple. The platform completed its first transactionin May last year, and the loan to Elmet is its first in the Netherlands, a key market alongsidethe UK. BNPP AM is targeting EUR 1 billion of direct lending annually to European SMEs.International SME alternative credit specialist Caple has so far completed deals ofapproximately £10 million in the UK. With a strong pipeline of loans, Caple expects to buildon this through the course of 2019 in the UK and the Netherlands.

Kees Kooiman, Managing Director of Elmet, comments: “Working with our advisers, Caple was able to quickly secure the financing that we were looking for to fund the share transaction and the growth of our business. The transaction would have been more difficult to fund with less flexibility for the business had we applied for a business loan from a more traditional funding source.”

Stéphane Blanchoz, Head of SME Alternative Financing at BNP Paribas AssetManagement, comments: “The way in which European SMEs borrow to finance their development is changing, creating opportunities for non-traditional lenders such as ourselves. Through our SMEAlternative Financing platform we are able to offer access to funding that is quicker andmore flexible that has previously been the case. We are very ambitious in this area and theloan to Elmet is a key milestone in the development of the platform in continental Europe.”

Michiel Slinkert, founder and Managing Partner at Caple, comments: “In common with their UK counterparts, Dutch SMEs are increasingly looking to alternative lenders for long term unsecured credit to fund growth, leading to strong demand and growing origination volumes. Through our strategic partnership with BNP Paribas Asset Management, we are very pleased to have been able to help Elmet by facilitating this loan.A shareholder consolidation combined with a growth strategy became possible, which is nottypically the case with traditional lending.”

Elmet was advised by Financieringsgilde Adviesgroep, who acted as financial/debt advisorto the company in this transaction. Financieringsgilde Adviesgroep is a member of Caple’spartner network in the Netherlands, through which loans are originated.

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